poof

English

Alternative forms

• pouf

Etymology

Onomatopoeic. See also puff.

Pronunciation

• enPR: po͝of, IPA^(key): /pʊf/
• (US)
  • IPA^(key): /puːf/

  • Audio (US)

    (file)

• Audio (AU)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ʊf, -uːf
• Homophones: pouf, pouffe (with certain dialects and/or accents)

Interjection

poof

1. Onomatopoeia indicating a cloud of smoke or wind; caused by a deflating object, or a magical disappearance.

   Poof, he was gone.

   • 1995, Kevin Spacey as Verbal, The Usual Suspects, written by Christopher McQuarrie:

     The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist. And like that, poof. He's gone.

Derived terms

• foofy
• poofy

Translations

deflating object or a magical disappearance

• Finnish: puff (fi)
• French: pouf (fr)

• Swedish: poff

Noun

poof (plural poofs or pooves)

1. (Britain, Australia, New Zealand, derogatory, colloquial) A male homosexual, especially one who is effeminate.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:male homosexual

   • 2015, Irvine Welsh, A Decent Ride, Random House (→ISBN), page 21:

     He recalls how everybody got called a ‘poof’ at Forrester High School in the seventies. Back then, only ‘wanker’ possibly rivalled it as the most common term of abuse. But The Poof was the Poof.

2. The product of flatulence, or the sound of breaking wind.

Derived terms

• poofter

Translations

A male homosexual.

• Catalan: marieta (ca) m, marica m, maricó m
• Finnish: hintti (fi)
• French: tapette (fr) f, pédale (fr) f, tante (fr) f
• Italian: finocchio (it) m, checca (it) f

• Norwegian: skrulle m or f, fjolle m or f
• Portuguese: bicha (pt)
• Russian: голубо́й (ru) (golubój)
• Swedish: fjolla (sv) c

The product of flatulence.

• Danish: prut (da)
• French: pet (fr) m, prout (fr) m

• Swedish: fis (sv) c, fjärt (sv) c, prutt (sv) c

Verb

poof (third-person singular simple present poofs, present participle poofing, simple past and past participle poofed)

1. To vanish or disappear.

   He poofed into thin air.

2. To break wind; to fart.

Translations

to vanish

• French: s'évanouir (fr), s'évaporer (fr), disparaître (fr)

• Polish: znikać (pl)

to fart

• French: péter (fr), prouter (fr)

• Swedish: fisa (sv), fjärta (sv), prutta (sv)